Song · The Smiths
“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths
Released 1984
“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths appears on 6 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1984 and 2024. It was first released in 1984. Its best result is #28 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1984. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #113 alternative song of 1984 and #3,349 alternative song of all time.
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The Smiths buried "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" on the flip side of "William, It Was Really Nothing" in 1984, which says plenty about how loaded their pockets were that year. Johnny Marr wrote the music straight after the A-side and pointedly went the other way: where that one sprints, this one sways in waltz time, chasing the haunted, yearning mood of a Del Shannon record his parents used to spin when he was small.
John Porter produced, and Marr's guitar and mandolin carry it, with Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce barely touching the ground beneath Morrissey's plea. It's over almost before it begins, a brevity that made Rough Trade nervous. It went on to Hatful of Hollow, Louder Than Bombs and the Pretty in Pink soundtrack.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 28 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1984 | 48 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 101 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1999 | 642 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2003 | 1122 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2021 | 600 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2024 | 473 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
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